History of Zimbabwe

Kingdom of Zimbabwe, 1220–1450 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe was a Shona kingdom located in modern-day Zimbabwe. Its capital was Great Zimbabwe, the largest stone structure in precolonial Southern Africa, which had a population of 10,000. Around 1300, Great Zimbabwe replaced Mapungubwe as the most important trading centre in the interior, exporting gold via Swahili city-states into the Indian Ocean trade. By the 16th century, the Mutapa Empire and the Kingdom of Butua centred on Khami had replaced Great Zimbabwe as the major powers in the region.

Seat of power: Great Zimbabwe

Kingdom of Mutapa, 1430–1760 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Mutapa Empire was a Shona empire in the north of the Zimbabwean Plateau. The Portuguese Crown sent Francisco Barreto to lead an army and invade and conquer Mutapa, aiming to gain control of its gold reserves. In 1629 Kapararidze's forces met the Portuguese army at Masapa, where they were defeated and retreated with heavy losses. The most powerful Portuguese faction supported Mavhura's accession to the kingship, and he signed terms of vassalage with the Portuguese Crown.

Seat of power: Zvongombe

Southern Rhodesia, 1923–1980 Draft, not yet reviewed

Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked, self-governing colony of the British Empire in what is today the country of Zimbabwe. The colony's territory was initially conquered and administered by the British South Africa Company, which was founded in 1888 by Cecil Rhodes for the purpose of occupying and settling the region. In 1965, the South Rhodesian government under Prime Minister Ian Smith issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence and oversaw the escalating Rhodesian Bush War between the white minority-controlled government and African nationalist forces. British rule was briefly reinstated in December 1979 until it was granted full independence as the Republic of Zimbabwe in April 1980.

Seat of power: Harare

Rulers

• John Chancellor, Governor of Southern Rhodesia, 1923–1928
• Cecil Hunter-Rodwell, Governor of Southern Rhodesia, 1928–1934
• Herbert Stanley, Governor of Southern Rhodesia, 1935–1942
• Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron Howick of Glendale, Governor of Southern Rhodesia, 1942–1944
• Campbell Tait, Governor of Southern Rhodesia, 1945–1946
• Peveril William-Powlett, Governor of Southern Rhodesia, 1954–1959
• Christopher Soames, Governor of Southern Rhodesia, 1979–1980

Zimbabwe, 1980 to today Draft, not yet reviewed

In 1965, the white minority government unilaterally declared independence as Rhodesia. The state endured international isolation and a 15-year guerrilla war with black rebel forces; this culminated in a peace agreement that established de jure sovereignty as Zimbabwe in April 1980. In 2017, in the wake of over a year of protests against his government as well as Zimbabwe's rapidly declining economy, a coup d'état resulted in Mugabe's resignation. Emmerson Mnangagwa has since served as Zimbabwe's president.

Seat of power: Harare

Rulers

• Canaan Banana, President of Zimbabwe, 1980–1987
• Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe, 1987–2017
• Emmerson Mnangagwa, President of Zimbabwe, 2017 to today
• Phelekezela Mphoko, President of Zimbabwe, 2017–2017